Grim news about missing football star Emiliano Sala
Reuters and AFP, news.com.au
January 23, 2019 12:53pm
Cardiff City?s new striker Emiliano Sala was on board a light aircraft that disappeared en route to the Welsh capital where he was to join up with the English Premier League team, France?s civil aviation authority says ? and his tragic final messages have been revealed.
Argentine Sala was flying from the French city of Nantes to Cardiff when the plane lost radar contact off the English Channel island Guernsey late on Monday. Rescue aircraft and boats scoured more than 2600 square km of sea for the single-engine Piper Malibu on Tuesday.
Guernsey police said a number of floating objects had been seen in the water but they were unable to confirm whether any were from the missing aircraft.
Audio recordings of WhatsApp messages Sala sent to friends have reportedly been uncovered where he says he?s scared of being on a plane that feels like it?s ?falling to pieces? and asks people to send help if they don?t hear from him..
According to The Daily Mail, Sala called friends and said in Spanish: ?Hey guys, how is it going? Brother, I am really tired now. I was over in Nantes sorting things out, doing this, doing that.
?I am now aboard a plan that seems like it is falling to pieces. I?m going to Cardiff now, crazy, and tomorrow we get going going. I will train with my new team tomorrow.?
Another call was made later where Sala reportedly said: ?How are you guys, all good?
?If you do not have any more news from in an hour and a half, I don?t know if they need to send someone to find me. I am getting scared!?
As night fell, search operations were suspended. Police said they will resume at sunrise on Wednesday but tragically, are not expecting any survivors.
Cardiff City?s new striker Emiliano Sala was on board a light aircraft that disappeared en route to the Welsh capital.
Sala and one other person were on board.
?After all this time, the weather?s quite cold, the water is very cold out there ? I am not expecting anyone to be alive,? Channel Islands Air Search chief officer John Fitzgerald told The Associated Press.
?We just don?t know how it disappeared at the end of yesterday. It just completely vanished.
?The plane was flying at 2000ft when it dropped off the radar so it could have flown for about five or six miles (eight to nine km) before touching down.
?But whether it was a controlled ditching or if it dived in, we just do not know. If it was a controlled ditching, you would expect to find a liferaft but if it was uncontrolled I expect an oil slick and wreckage may be found.?
There are grave fears for Emiliano Sala.
Authorities have found no sign of those on board.
According to The Sun, Sala made a chilling premonition about his flight a few days before his departure. He reportedly told Nantes teammate Nicolas Pallois the trip to France to say goodbye to his old club was ?bumpy and he feared his safety for the return back to the UK?, according to French media.
?If they did land on the water, the chances of survival are at this stage, unfortunately, slim,? Guernsey Police said.
Yesterday Sala shared a picture on Instagram with other players at Nantes? team training ground.
The caption read: ?The last goodbye?.
View this post on Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bs5WXEelADv/
La ultima ❤️ ciao @FCNantes ��������
A post shared by Emiliano Sala (@emilianosala9) on Jan 21, 2019 at 4:09am PST
Forward Sala, 28, joined Premier League strugglers Cardiff from FC Nantes last week for a club record fee of about $AUD27 million. He had played in France since 2012.
?We expected Emiliano to arrive last night into Cardiff and today was due to be his first day with the team,? club CEO Ken Choo said in a statement. ?We continue to pray for positive news.?
Tuesday?s training session was called off.
?The management and the whole club are staying hopeful and the whole FC Nantes family is praying for Emiliano Sala and the other passengers to be found safe and sound,? Nantes said in a statement.
Sala?s father Horacio told Argentine TV channel C5N: ?I didn?t know anything because I?m away from home, I?m a truck driver. A friend who saw it on TV told me. I?m in despair.? Julio Muller, the mayor of Progreso, the small town in the farming province of Santa Fe where Sala grew up, told Clarin online: ?The town is in shock. The only thing we were talking about was his transfer.?
Daniel Rivero, the president of Sala?s first club, San Martin de Progreso, told radio LT9 he was ?hoping for some kind of a miracle.?
Sala scored 12 goals for Nantes this season.
France?s football federation postponed Nantes?s French Cup last-32 game against Entente Sannois-Saint Gratien that was scheduled for Wednesday.
Sala was brought on board to find the back of the net.
FANS GATHER TO PRAY FOR A MIRACLE
Cardiff City?s stunned supporters joined club officials in praying for a miracle on Tuesday with the Premier League club?s record signing Sala feared dead after his plane disappeared over the Channel Islands.
The arrival of a player who had scored 12 goals in Ligue 1 this season was a beacon of hope for fans optimistic that his firepower could save their struggling side from relegation this season.
But excitement gave way to foreboding as fans laid flowers and heartfelt messages at Cardiff City Stadium.
Numbed and shocked supporters stood together in the club car park, where some laid daffodils and blue and white club scarves.
?The excitement of a new signing arriving at your club can bring so much happiness. That?s how we felt about Sala,? said Cardiff fan Josh Thomas, 24.
?He was the one who was going to turn our fortunes around and score the goals that would keep us up. He was going to be the one adored by the fans, including me. But within a few hours so much has changed.?
Sala was one of the top three goalscorers in France this season, which ?just showed what a talented player we were signing and what he was to bring to the club?, Thomas said.
?All we can do is hope for the best.?
Nantes fans are in shock.
Keith Morgan, chairman of the Cardiff City Supporters Trust, had also been thrilled at the prospect of Sala joining the club he has supported for 50 years.
"As with any tragedy it's difficult to absorb," he said. "We're obviously still hoping it's not confirmed but when or if it is, we will contact Nantes offering all our help."
Morgan said fans from "the wider football community" have been getting in touch to offer their sympathies and support to the club.
"I think fans realise what's important and things like this put everything into perspective. Football is important in all our lives but not more than a person's life," he said.
"It's very sad."
Cardiff have already had to deal with the aftermath of an air accident this season, being the first club to play Leicester City after a helicopter crash killed their owner and four others in October.
The club's players were informed of the news at the training ground on Tuesday morning and the management decided to cancel their planned schedule.